Portable electronic devices, such as portable media players, portable computing devices, and portable communication devices, have become ubiquitous in today's society. As they have proliferated, so have the number and types of hardware accessories that are designed to interact with these portable electronic devices. These accessories range in complexity, including, for example, simple speaker systems and complex automotive entertainment systems.
An accessory may communicate with a portable electronic device using a connector system. This connector system may include a plug connector that is associated with the accessory and a receptacle connector that is associated with the portable electronic device. A user may connect the plug connector of the accessory to the receptacle connector of the portable electronic device thereby forming physical and electrical connections between the contacts of each of the connectors. The host device and the accessory may then exchange data and/or send/receive power using the connectors.
Users may have multiple different portable electronic devices. For various reasons, these portable electronic devices may have different sized connectors. For example, the portable electronic devices may be made by different manufacturers. The portable electronic devices may also be made by the same manufacturer, but a newer model of the portable electronic device may have a more advanced, smaller sized connector receptacle than an older model manufactured by the same company.
For these and other reasons, a user may encounter a situation where the user has a portable electronic device that has a connector that is incompatible with the connectors of certain accessories designed to operate with the a different portable electronic device.